SCIT.ATR.PI.2002.HU

Annual Technical Report 2002 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Hungary (SCIT/ATR/PI/2002/HU)

Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.

The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.

I. Evolution of patent activities

In 2002, codification was aimed, first of all, at tasks concerning Hungary’s accession to the European Patent Convention and at the implementation of legislation in the field of patent law.
Amendment to Law No. XXXIII of 1995 on the Protection of Inventions by Patents (Patent Law) was intended to attain the following objectives:
- creation of interface rules relating to European patent applications and European patents necessary for the integration into the system of the European Patent Convention;
- raising to statutory level and modernization of similar interface rules relating to the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
- accomplishment of amendments necessary for creating conformity with Community law, inter alia and most importantly, alignment with the EC directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions necessitated modifications;
- re-regulation of the protection of plant varieties, bringing the Patent Law into line with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention and, where necessary, with the Community system of plant variety rights;
- assurance of harmony with our new international obligations (e.g. connected with Hungary’ membership in NATO) affecting patent law.

The Parliament adopted the amendment on October 24, 2002. Law No. XXXIX of 2002 amending Law No. XXXIII of 1995 on the Protection of Inventions by Patents entered into force on January 1, 2003.
As a condition of the entry into force of the new Law, the Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) provided for the deposit of Hungary’s instrument of accession with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of Parliament decision (No. 54/2002 (IX. 13.) OGY) on the accession to the European Patent Convention (which took place on October 28, 2002) and of that with the Secretary-General of UPOV on the basis of Parliament decision (No. 56/2002 (IX. 13.) OGY) on the accession to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention (which took place on December 1, 2002). By virtue of the deposits, accession to both Conventions entered into force on January 1, 2003, in compliance with the relevant statutory rules.
By virtue of the authorization under the Law amending the Patent Law, Decree No. 20/2002 (XII. 12.) IM on the Detailed Formalities of Patent Applications, of Documents Filed in relation to European Patent Applications, European Patents and International Patent Applications and for Applications for Plant Variety Protection was prepared.
It was also by virtue of the authorization under that Law that Government Decree No. 270/2002 (XII. 20.) Korm. on the Detailed Rules of the Organization and Activity of the Body of Experts on Industrial Property was born. In compliance with that Decree, the Body shall have been renewed by the end of March 2003.
In order to meet Hungary’s obligations deriving from accession to the European Patent Convention and from other international treaties, certain international conventions were promulgated by law and some regulations of lower level relating to other international treaties were promulgated by decrees. These were:
- Law No. L of 2002 on the Promulgation of the Munich Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention) of 5 October 1973;
- Law No. LI of 2002 on the Promulgation of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants as revised on March 19, 1991;
- Decree No. 34/2002 (XII. 25.) IM on the Promulgation of the Regulations Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
- Decree No. 22/2002 (XII. 13.) IM on the Promulgation of the Implementing Regulations to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973;
- Decree No. 21/2002 (XII. 13.) IM on the Promulgation of the Regulations Under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure;
- Decree No. 45/2002 (XII. 28.) GKM on the Promulgation of the Rules relating to Fees of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973.
The Decrees entered into force on January 1, 2003.
An important step was the creation of Decree No. 42/2002 (XII. 38.) GKM on the Fees for Administrative Services in Industrial Property Procedures before the HPO. The modification provides for the fees for new procedures starting from January 1, 2003 on the basis of the amendment to the Patent Law (thus for example fees relating to European patent applications and European patents, and fees relating to plant varieties). The level of fees of old procedures were increased by an average of 9.8%. An important change is that in the case of annual fees the four-year periods of payment were replaced by two-year periods.
The Ministry of Economy and Transport prepared a draft decree on the support of obtaining and maintaining industrial property protection from special funds allocated for the patenting of Hungarian inventions abroad.
As part of the performance of legal harmonization tasks required by Hungary’s accession to the European Union, a proposal on the amendment to Law No. XXXII of 1995 on Patent Attorneys was prepared.


Due to a decrease in the number of trademark applications and the gradually increasing number of international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and entered the national phase, the number of national patent applications (5,906) is almost equal to that of trademark applications (5,944). These two titles of protection continue to stand out from the other industrial property categories and make up together more than 93% of national applications. At the same time, only 2 applications were received in 2002 for the protection of geographical indications.
Within the framework of international cooperation, the number of applications designating Hungary rises from year to year. This increase is due to the continuous growth in the number of patent applications filed under the PCT and designating also our country. The number of (industrial) design applications filed under the Hague Agreement and designating Hungary and that of trademark applications filed under the Madrid Agreement and designating Hungary are similar to the relevant application numbers in 2001.

A) PATENTS

Foreign applicants showed a continued keen interest in the Hungarian market. The applications were filed first of all under the PCT, Hungary was designated in almost 90,000 such applications.
4,579 requests were received relating to the entry into the national phase of international applications, which represents an increase of about 17% over the figure in 2001.
The number of foreign applications filed in the national way continued to decrease similarly to the previous years. The reason for this is not a declining interest in Hungary, but the general, worldwide tendency that applicants, in accordance with their economic interests, wish to obtain protection in several countries by filing a single application, therefore they file their applications first of all within the framework of the PCT.
The increase in the number of domestic applications came to a halt, the decline on 2001 was almost 10%. Fewer applications were received both from individual applicants and from enterprises, which indicates that it is necessary to enhance the awareness of the industrial property system in order to provide the tools which may serve technology policy and competitiveness in innovation.
Table 1.: Breakdown of national patent applications by origin (1998–2002)
Table 2.: Breakdown of patent applications by origin (1998–2002)


Patent examination work in the so-called BEST system (“search+examination”) continued. The 4594 searches performed by patent examiners exceeded by about 16% the performance in 2001. The total number of searches (4,927) was nearly 4% up on the previous year.
In compliance with the provisions of the law in force, the patent examiners arranged for the publication of 3,732 patent applications. On the basis of earlier technical preparations, in 2002 altogether 5,277 patent applications were published in the Gazette of Patent and Trademarks.
As a consequence of the ever-increasing number of patent applications outlined above and with the examining capacity remaining unchanged, the number of pending applications also rises continuously, although 2002 was the first year in which the energy invested in the training of new officials recruited in the previous years recovered.
Table 3.: Granted patents (1998–2002)


Granted patents represented about 36% of the total number of completed applications. This was a 2% fall from the previous year, but in absolute terms the number of granted patents increased. More and more patent applications filed under Law No. XXXIII of 1995 are completed, where the previous role of rejections is taken over by lapse.
Considering the “balance of work”, the number of completed applications was 4,360 compared to the 5,906 applications filed in 2002.
Table 4.: Granted patents break down by technical fields

It deserves special attention that the number of Hungarian inventors and enterprises filing patent applications with the Hungarian Patent Office as a receiving Office within the PCT system increased to an unprecedented extent, by about 25%. In the year under review, 178 international patent applications were filed, compared to the 153 in 2001. To judge this growth rightly, it must be mentioned that as a result of Hungary’ s accession to the European Patent Convention on January 1, 2003, the costs for Hungarian individual applicants shall rise because of the loss of the 75% allowance enjoyed until then. This may also have encouraged Hungarian inventors to file their international patent applications still in 2002. The conscious industrial property activity of Hungarian inventors may also be attributed, among others, to the fact that the HPO informed its clients in due time of the expected modifications of the European Patent Conventions and of its Implementing Regulations.

B) UTILITY MODELS

In 2002, 351 utility model granting procedures started, which means a 10% increase from the previous year and represents at the same time the second highest figure in the past 5 years. Ninety-five percent of the applications were received from domestic applicants, foreigners chose this title of protection only in 22 cases. In the year under review, 375 applications were completed, of which 237 ended with grant, 9 with rejection and 129 with withdrawal.
Table 5.: Breakdown of utility model applications by origin (1998–2002)
Table 6.: Figures of utility model procedures (1998–2002)

P_I_Tables

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information

In the 107th volume of the official journal of the HPO, the Gazette of Patents and Trademarks, 12 issues were published in 2002. The number of subscribers was 250 in 2000, 232 in 2001 and 200 in 2002. The gradual decrease in subscriptions reflects the widespread use of the public electronic databases of the HPO. In 2002, the size of the Gazette was bigger than ever, it comprised 3,639 pages, within this 3,415 pages belonged to the official columns and 224 pages to the literary part. Taking into account the demands of the international exchange of documents and of education, the average number of copies was 470 per month.
The Industrial Property and Copyright Review, the supplement of the Gazette, was published six times in 2002. For the second year already, it has become, independently as well, a much sought-after publication in the circles of specialists. In 2002, there were no changes in its structure, but the quantity of the published material increased continuously (20%). The size of the column “Studies” almost doubled and amounted to 38% of the total size.
Other publication activities of the HPO were carried out as planned, depending on the availability of manuscripts. Reprints were prepared continuously both in the internal and outside printing offices. In addition to these, 1,330 (1,659 in 2001) patent specifications were published in printed and also in electronic formats. The average number of pages of patent specifications was 14.
Digital printing technology was introduced in the first quarter of 2002, the considerable investment came up to the expectations. In 2002, the two main publications of the HPO were produced smoothly during an extremely short manufacturing time, furthermore, the production of several medium standard color publications was transferred to the internal printing office. The start of the digital printing office considerably influenced the work of the Editorial Office. After the technical possibilities and limits had been recognized, the data flow became undisturbed between the Editorial Office and the digital printing office. Smaller quantities were ordered at the same time, and the electronically stored publications could be re-ordered more easily. Some 2.5 million black and white pages were printed by the digital printing office, and 80% of about 250 thousand color pages were produced by an outside printing office.

The Public Industrial Property Aggregate Collection for Search, integrating the data of all titles of industrial property protection into a uniform system, is recognized and used more and more widely. In addition to the quarterly updated DVD version issued for subscription and the version on the Intranet, which has been used by the officials of the HPO for almost two years, this database is already available to outside users on the Internet. It serves not only as an excellent integrated search tool, but by means of directed search it may take up the role of the electronic gazette and electronic registers, with color figures, characteristic texts (patent abstracts in Hungarian and in English, claims, trademark classes, etc), furthermore, it offers the “pdf” version of about 40,000 full text patent specifications for browsing and printing.
The following synoptic tables present the current status of “coverage” by electronic data wealth by titles of industrial property protection.
Table 12.: Patents
Table 13.: Utility models

The attendance of the HPO’s Website increased in the first half of the year, however, not to the same extent as previously, since from January on, the independent databases (Hunpatéka Online, Trademark database and Design database) have not been updated, and in April, they were removed from the main page and from the site map. On the home page only the Hungarian industrial property database PIPACS and the gazette database appear. The reason for the existence of the gazette database is that it also shows the state of earlier issues of the gazette, while PIPACS always displays the most recent state. From September on, the attendance values dramatically decreased, because at that time the URL addresses of the earlier databases were redirected to PIPACS. Those persons, who reached the earlier databases through bookmarks or other direct branchpoints, could have access only to PIPACS. Due to the above-mentioned changes, in 2002 the yearly average of attendance was 320,000.

The HPO continues to supply data, as it was introduced in 2000, to the Esp@cenet database of the European Patent Office which is intended for small and medium-sized enterprises of the continent. This concerns the data of published patent applications and granted patents and full text patent specifications according to the national system of publication. The EPIDOS INPADOC database having a long-standing tradition serves as a basis for Esp@cenet, it is the former database where the HPO has been sending Hungarian patent and utility model data for decades.

The production of the ESPACE-PRECES CD is carried out smoothly, in accordance with the conditions of the agreement of the eight participating Central and Eastern European offices renewed at the end of the year. In 2002, 13 issues of ESPACE-PRECES and 2 issues of ACCESS-PRECES were published with the patent specifications of these offices. Two further offices, those of Yugoslavia and Croatia expressed their intention to join the consortium. The data supply by the new partners will probably start in the first quarter of 2003.

The general professional demand for the UPOVROM CD database containing international plant variety rights in a searchable format may help keep Hungary’s role in the publishing program of WIPO.

P_II_Tables

III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems

During the year under review, measures for the unification of the HPO’s administration have continued. On October 1, 2002, the instruction of the President of the HPO on the rules of industrial property administration entered into force and the Guidelines for Patent Examination was updated by the end of the year.
A database was prepared which encompasses all patent matters containing revocation procedure. The processing of these 212 cases involved the recording of about 8,000 data in the database and the transformation of 1,400 pages on paper into electronic format. Search can be performed in respect of each revocation in PIPACS (Public Industrial Property Aggregate Collection for Search) for bibliographic data, abstract, words in the claims, words in the full text of official or court decisions on the merits of the relevant revocation procedure, the legal basis indicated by the requestor, the authority taking the measures and the type of the measure. With respect to cases ending with limitation, both the limited claims and those valid at the time of grant are given. Decisions made at various fora are indicated with different colours, making thus the database user-friendly.

Court proceedings in industrial property matters (the figures of the previous year are indicated in parentheses)
Requests received for review of the HPO’s decision: 97 (106) [of which 72 (62) related to patents, 13 (9) to utility models].
Requests for review forwarded to the Metropolitan Court: 70 (54), of which 46 (17) patents, 13 (3) utility models.
Requests for review settled within the HPO’s own competence: 27 (52).

Number of cases returned by the Metropolitan Court with a final decision: 77 (58), of which
- the request for review was rejected : 54 (29),
- the decision of the HPO was changed: 5 (4),
- the decision of the HPO was repealed and the HPO was ordered to start a new procedure: 7 (9),
- termination of the proceedings: 4 (8),
- the decision of the HPO was repealed and the request was referred to the HPO: 7 (7).

In regards to cases to be decided by a board, 2 (5) requests were received for a decision on lack of infringement [of which 1 (4) related to patents, and 1 (-) to utility models].
Number of requests for revocation: 15 (18) [of which 6 (6) related to patents, 8 (10) to utility models.
Request for the interpretation of patent description: 1.

In accordance with the proposals contained in the IT audit, the HPO gave a commission to examine the vulnerability of its IT system. After the survey, the necessary modernization of the protection system supervising the IT infrastructure was carried out, with the simultaneous installation of a tool controlling the use of the Internet. In the autumn of 2002, an additional survey proved the necessity of further information security measures. The updating of the firewall system’s software and the introduction of stricter regulations have become timely. Completion of these works is scheduled for the first quarter of 2003.
The antivirus system was considerably modernized and its functions extended. The users’ modern equipment contributed to the success of the measures to a great extent.
The demand for high-level and smooth operation requires the critical analysis of the applied information technology and the exploration of new possibilities in order to decide upon the future development trends. In August of 2002, the HPO gave a commission to assess the present IT infrastructure and to make proposals for modernization. In accordance with the commission, a feasibility study relating to a radical change was prepared, which also revealed the operation’s points requiring improvement. As a result of the measures taken in accordance with these proposals, the network capacity has expressly improved from the third quarter of 2002.
The uniform registration system (ENYV) is the HPO’s own development. A change in the database software version necessitated a change in the interface of ENYV and in the version of the database manager. For the version change, the optimization of the batch processes of ENYV was prepared and the administrative issues of operation and development were reviewed in order to establish the responsible official distribution of labor.
The sharp system of SAP modules was successfully put into operation at the beginning of 2002. The system administrators participated in ORACLE, Win2000 and UNIX system engineering courses. The SAP helpdesk was successfully integrated into the HPO’s helpdesk services, a second expert level of helpdesk was developed.

VI. Administration of the industrial property office library and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)

Due to the progress in information technology, the customs of users interested in technical literature underwent considerable changes in the past two-three years. This tendency has the following characteristics:
─ Search of documents on traditional carrier according to topics decreased last year by 26%, which indicates the continuation of the trend in previous years.
─ Search was shifted almost totally to sources on the Internet. In 2002, 185 thousand pages were provided in the patent library on 15,500 occasions, which represents a 30% leap in electronic services compared to 2001.
─ The clients require independent computerized search to an ever-increasing extent. At present, 9 workstations are available to clients, two more than in last year.
─ In regards to databases on optical disk, there was a sturdy growth in the demand for the ESPACE ACCESS and EP CD-ROMs of the European Patent Office, the use of the former increased by 46% and that of the latter by 57%.
─ Our clients are acquainted with Esp@cenet and Delphion and require the provision of the most up-to-date patent information sources.

The Industrial Property Special Library received almost 4,000 requests for obtaining, through interlibrary exchange, non-patent documents disclosed in search reports. The number of documents supplied rose by 70% over 2001, and almost tripled in the past four years. International surveys also bear out the experience that only 10% of non-patent literature are available from public electronic information sources, the majority can be acquired only by means of interlibrary exchange.
Since its introduction, PIPACS (Public Industrial Property Aggregate Collection for Search) has constituted the basis of information by client services. During the second half of the year, there was a considerable improvement in updating the data contained therein, which – according to the feedback received from clients - had a markedly positive impact on public services. As far as the cooperation of the Patent Library, Client Services and Industrial Property Special Library is concerned, the figures of the attendance bear witness to the popularity of these complex services.

In 2002, the HPO elaborated the conception of the medium-term development of client services. The experience of the first operational period shows that the majority of clients were interested in trademarks.
Information was published about the changes deriving from Hungary’s accession to the European Patent Convention. The news entitled “Hungary acceded to the European Patent Convention on January 1, 2003” and “Changes relating to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) entering into force on January 1, 2003) transmitted up-to-date knowledge to the HPO’s clients.
The clientele with divergent fields of interest lays a duty requiring much patience and empathy upon the HPO’s officials, their service is also a complex task tailored to individual needs.
The green phone number, which may be called free-of-charge, was used to the maximum extent. After the information received by its means, the majority of the persons interested turn up personally at the Client Services or in the Patent Library.
As a whole, the attendance shows an increase of 7% compared to the figures in 2001, that is the number of requests reached 17,000. There was a striking growth in the number of personal visits, which exceeded by about 40% the figures of the previous year and amounted almost to 8,000. This proves not only the strengthening of the interest in industrial property and copyright-related legal issues, but also the fact that in spite of the various electronic information tools, clients still prefer personal advice.

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries

On January 9, 2002, the Metropolitan Labor Center registered the HPO as an institution providing intermediate and advanced-level industrial property training. In compliance with the legislation in force, the prescribed contracts with students were worked out and were applied at the newly started course.
We have prepared ourselves for the accreditation procedure and for the accreditation of professional training in accordance with the provisions of Law No. CI of 2001 on Continuing Education, Decree No. 48/2001 (XII. 29.) OM on the Detailed Rules of the Registration of Institutions Providing Continuing Education and Government Decree No. 91/2002 (IX. 26.) Korm. on the Detailed Rules of the Accreditation of Institutions Providing Continuing Education and of Programs for Continuing Education.
In the organization of the HPO, about 1,000 lessons were held during the period of training with the participation of almost 1,055 students.
On the basis of the framework cooperation agreement concluded with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics:
─ the distance learning program entitled “Patents – advantages in competition” continued, on the basis of methodics modified in view of the experience gained in the previous year;
─ a cooperation agreement was concluded with the Department of Innovation Management and History of Technology, within the framework of which a joint study of the industrial property and copyright aspects of research and development was set as objective;
─ accreditation of the subject “Legal protection of intellectual property” was prepared in cooperation with the Department of Company Law (accreditation took already place at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences).
Cooperation agreements were concluded with the University of Miskolc and with the Faculty of Woodworking Engineering of the University of West Hungary, on the basis of which the subject “Legal protection of intellectual property” can be chosen at the technical faculties from the second half of the 2002/2003 school year.
The Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University will launch, with the participation of the HPO, a 10-lesson training program in the second half of the 2002/2003 school year in the field of intellectual property-related legislative and law enforcement practices. On two occasions the students will perform searches in the Patent Library.
Under an agreement concluded with the Tessedik Sámuel College, the HPO provided intermediate industrial property training in the first half of the 2002/2003 school year at the Faculty of Agriculture of Mezőtúr.
In order to make university students acquainted with the bases of industrial property and to improve their knowledge in this field, the HPO founded a scholarship for the preparation of university theses which can be obtained by competition. The institutions concerned are the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the Faculty of Woodworking Engineering of the University of West Hungary, the Hungarian University of Applied Arts and the Tessedik Sámuel College. Of the 24 applicants, 17 met the prescribed requirements. (They attended the 20-lesson course organized by the HPO, and analyzed in a paper of at least 8-10 pages the industrial property background of the subject matter concerned and the possibilities of acquiring rights both at the national and international level.)
Within the framework of a joint training program worked out in cooperation with the Economic Postgraduate Institute of the Budapest University of Economics and State Administration, it became possible to teach industrial property knowledge in postgraduate form.
The first conception of the International Regional Training Center was prepared.
Following a visit in May of Mpazi Sinjela, Director of the WIPO Worldwide Academy, the possible fields of cooperation were outlined. At the meeting both parties confirmed that the conditions of establishing partner relations existed already.
During the year, the colleagues and students of the Department of Ergonomics and Psychology of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics gave a presentation on the examination of the HPO’s Website from ergonomic aspects and evaluated the experience of the second course of the distance learning program entitled “Patents – advantages in competition”, on the basis of which a proposal on its further development was prepared.

During the year under review, the HPO cooperated with the following institutions and organizations, with the exception of education, under a contract or on a case-by-case basis.
Professional cooperation:
Association of Hungarian Inventors, Hungarian Innovation Association, Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and Copyright, Hungarian University of Applied Arts, Hungarian Society of Artists and Designers, Hungarian Association of Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Institute of History of Science, Hungarian Trademark Association, Federation of Technical and Scientific Societies (MTESZ), Novofer Foundation.
Educational cooperation:
Press club of Budapest, Palace of Wonders non-profit company, Eötvös Loránd Physical Society, Jedlik Ányos Society, Foundation for Researching Students, Hungarian Museum of Photography, National Technical Museum.
Professional cooperation in communication :
Duna TV - Solart Producers’ Bureau, Hungarian Television – Editorial Office of Delta, MM – Technical Magazine, Petőfi Radio – Gordius Magazine, Technical Review, World of Nature / Gazette of Natural Science, Club of Scientific Journalists.
The three-year cooperation agreement with MTESZ is complemented by a work plan renewed every year. This summarizes the content of professional information activity in the following four points:
─ activity of client services;
─ establishment and maintenance of relations;
─ events;
─ intermediate industrial property education.

On the initiative of the HPO, a new process started in 2002: regional cooperation beyond the frontiers. The beginning thereof may be the Romanian-Hungarian meeting of industrial property client services at Oradea. In cooperation with the Austrian Patent Office, a series of exhibitions dealing with wine trademarks was organized in 2002 in four Austrian and four Hungarian towns, with the assistance of the particularly active client services in Győr. The initiative was taken over by the client services of Miskolc, they plan the organization of a similar series of exhibitions.

The HPO participated in the following exhibitions with updated mobile installations, computers, access to the Internet and information materials:
Magyarregula 2002 (February 19 to 22),
Genius 2002 – international exhibitions of inventions (April 5 to 7),
Industria 2002 (May 28 to 31),
EARMA (European Association for Research Managers and Administrators) (June 14 and 15),
Innoforum 2002, 10th National Fair of Intellectual Products (June 12 and 13, Millennial Park),
Foodapest 2002 International Exhibition of Food Industry (November 26 to 29, Fair Center of Budapest).
At the exhibitions Housing Trend and Design (March 7 to 10), Design Salon 2002 (February 28 to March 3) and World of Furniture 2002 (November 6 to 10), the officials of the HPO were at the disposal of the persons interested in questions relating to the protection of designs and trademarks.
The Austrian opening of the Austrian-Hungarian traveling exhibition of wine trademarks took place in Eisenstadt and the Hungarian one in Győr (on April 25 and on May 2, respectively). Further stations of the exhibition were Sopron, Szombathely and Pannonhalma in Hungary, and Neusiedl am See, Oberpullendorf and Oberwart in Austria.
Within the framework of series “Science – Technology – Art”, an exhibition was arranged from October 10 to 29 from the paper statues and drawings of Wanda Szyksznian, Ferenczy Noémi Prize winner graphic artist. The works created from hand-made paper aroused keen interest and met great success.

Events
Jedlik Ányos Prizes were awarded traditionally in March. In 2002, the following persons won such prize: György Kovári civil engineer, patent attorney of the Advopatent Patent and Trademark Bureau; Dr. Péter Mátyus, university professor, director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Semmelweis University, Faculty of Pharmacy; Ágnes Pfeifer, certificated librarian, director of the Industrial Property Information and Education Center; Dr. János Váradi, mechanical engineer, retired professor and head of department of Szent István University and Prof. Dr. Sándor Vida, legal advisor of the Danubia Patent and Trademark Attorneys. Honoris causa Jedlik Ányos Prizes were awarded to Dr. Péter Csermely, professor of the Semmelweis University; Dr. Endre Juhász, ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the European Union and Dr. Béla Kende (posthumous), late President of the Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property.
In 2002, the World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated in the Cultural Center of Károlyi Palace. Academician Norbert Kroó, Secretary-General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and István Bart, President of the Association of Hungarian Publishers and Booksellers also participated in the ceremony, at which Millennial Prizes were awarded to the Porcelain Manufacture of Herend, the Hungaroton Records Ltd, the Institute of Material Sciences of the University of Miskolc and the Széchenyi National Library. The ceremony was followed by the demonstration of the CD-ROM “Pictures born by light”, a common publication of the Hungarian Patent Office and the Hungarian Museum of Photography, by a concert of dulcimer players Ágnes Szakály and Rózsa Farkas and by the opening of the exhibition “Word and Picture - Photoportraits and ex libris signs of contemporary writers” arranged from the works of the students of the Hungarian University of Applied Arts.
The joint advisory board of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Patent Office awarded in 2002 Prizes of the Academy for Outstanding Patents to: Dr. László Fenyvesi, Director of the Technical Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. László Koller, electric engineer, associate professor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Dr. Antal Tungler, chemical engineer, professor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
Youth - Innovation - Science, November 6, 2002. The ceremony held in the HPO was part of the series of events on the occasion of the Day of Hungarian Science. Last year Minister of Education Bálint Magyar also honored the ceremony with his presence. Within the framework of this event, the 12th National Youth Competition in Science and Innovation was announced, the earlier winners of which introduced themselves to the audience with presentations.
Following that, the prize giving ceremony of “Study group work as the place to educate to innovative thinking”, a joint competition announced by the Ministry of Education and the HPO took place. Winners of the 5th competition and their teachers were: Lippai János Technical Secondary School from Nyíregyháza - Ferenc Pótor; Pápay Endre Education Center from Makó - Anikó Kúsz; Reformed Grammar School from Szentendre - Erzsébet Szakács.

The conference “Collaboration in the interest of consumers” of the Optimum Foundation was hosted by the HPO. At the competition “The best company name of the year”, prizes were awarded for the names of a hairdresser studio and an optician’s salon.
The prize giving ceremony of the Gábor Dénes Prize founded by the Novofer Foundation, the announcement of the results of the competition for researchers and the opening of the exhibition “Hungarian contemporaries of Gábor Dénes” took place at the campus of the Eötvös Loránd University. On the proposal of the HPO, István Berta electric engineer, professor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics was awarded Gábor Dénes Prize. This time, chemists took part in the Gábor Dénes competition for researchers, prizes were awarded to young researchers László Fábián, Ernő Tfirst, László Homolya and Gyula Lukács.
As far as foreign industrial property-related exhibitions are concerned, the HPO took part in the Geneva Exhibition of Inventions, the IENA 2002 in Nuremberg and the Euroforum - Trade Marks conference organized by OHIM in Prague.

Out of the events of international cooperation within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the 37th series of meetings of the Assemblies of WIPO was the most significant. The positions held by the HPO’s President and Vice-President since the autumn of 2001 remained unchanged: the President holds the office of vice-chairman of the Assembly of the PCT Union and of the Executive Committee of the Berne Union, while the Vice-President for Legal Affairs that of vice-chairman of the Lisbon Union. Hungary continues to be a member of the Coordination Committee and of the Program and Budget Committee. Last year, no diplomatic conference was held.
The representatives of the HPO regularly attended the meetings of the standing committees of WIPO. The working group dealing with constitutional reform held two meetings last year and submitted its report to the General Assembly. On the basis of that, amendment to certain provisions of the WIPO Convention can be expected in the near future.
The official visit to Hungary of the Director General of WIPO did not take place in 2002. The invitation is still valid, the visit is expected for 2003 at a date fixed jointly with WIPO.
Similarly to the previous years, the representative of the HPO took part, also in 2002, in the meetings of the Council for TRIPS of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Main items on the agenda continued to be the discussion of intellectual property issues relating to the availability of medicines to developing countries, the work concerning geographical indications and the examination of the legal basis for the settlement of non-violation-type disputes.
From the point of view of Hungarian industrial property protection, the events relating to the reform of the European patent system were of paramount importance. The representatives of the HPO participated, similarly to 2001, still as observers, in all meetings of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation and of the Committee on Patent Law, where the preparations for the revision of the Implementing Regulations of the EPC were completed last year.
Two visits were linked with Hungary’s accession to the EPC: that of Manuel Desantes, Vice President (Legal/International Affairs) of the EPO and that of Director General Mogens Kring and Deputy Director General Niels Ravn of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office.
Similarly to the previous years, the latest Progress Report of the European Commission gave a favorable evaluation of the preparedness of Hungary, and within this of the HPO. In 2002, no professional consultations were held with the European Commission, nevertheless, the HPO gave its comments on the draft of the industrial property-related text of the Accession Treaty.
As far as the issue of Community patent is concerned, the member States of the European Union could not reach an agreement in 2002.

Bilateral and regional cooperation continued in 2002. At the beginning of the year, the President of the Slovak Industrial Property Office visited Hungary. The meeting further strengthened the friendly professional relations established between the two offices.
In May 2002, a Hungarian delegation headed by the President of the HPO visited the Swedish Patent and Registration Office.
The traditional meeting of the Presidents of the Austrian and Hungarian Patent Offices also took place. In addition to the bilateral discussions, the two Presidents jointly opened the previously mentioned Austrian-Hungarian traveling exhibition of wine trademarks. The year also witnessed a continued intensification of cooperation between Austrian and Hungarian industrial property experts.
In 2002, Karel Čada, President of the Czech Industrial Property Office was also a guest of the HPO. The HPO has maintained friendly and excellent professional relations with Gábor Varga, Director General of the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks since he has taken up office; last August his visit took place in Eger. Cooperation between Romanian and Hungarian experts also continued.
An outstanding event was in 2002 the WIPO-HPO Symposium to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Budapest Treaty. On the occasion of that event, the HPO had the opportunity to welcome as quests Philippe Petit, Deputy Director General of WIPO, Martti Enäjärvi, Director General of the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland and Nicolae Taran, Director General of the State Agency on Industrial Property Protection of the Republic of Moldova. The usefulness and success of the Symposium were expressed by the fact that several foreign speakers and nearly a hundred Hungarian and foreign participants attended the event.
In December 2002, an event entitled “Copyright in the era of the Internet, as seen by Victor Hugo” was organized with the cooperation of the HPO, the Expert Body on Copyright and the Hungarian Copyright Forum Association. Two prominent personalities of the international copyright world, the French professor Pierre Sirinelli and Geoffrey Yu, Assistant Director General (Copyright Sector) of WIPO were present as guest speakers. Before the event, discussions were carried out with Assistant Director General Yu, which may herald the beginning of common WIPO-HPO programs.

IX. Other relevant matters

The fundamental principle of the HPO concerning its public appearance is the effective, open and transparent informative behavior. In the interest of the uniform enforcement of this principle, the President of the HPO published an instruction. Thus, clear directions help the officials of the HPO give responsible information to the press by assessing their own competence correctly and keeping in mind the interests of both the office and the clients.
Regular relations are maintained with the representatives of the media, mutually informing each other of the possibilities of cooperation. Working relations were established with the persons responsible for communication in partner institutions cooperating in certain events. These institutions are, in particular: Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Economy and Transport, R+D Deputy State Secretariat of the Ministry of Education, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungarian Innovation Association, Office of the Prime Minister and Federation of Technical and Scientific Societies.
During the year under review, the HPO organized several events for the press (press breakfasts, background conversations, press conferences) or took part in the organization of such events (e.g. seminar of scientific journalists). About 25 press releases were issued, either in connection with intellectual property events, or with the national and international activities of the HPO and changes in legislation.
In 2002, in the Hungarian media more than 500 articles, pieces of news, radio or TV programs dealt with inventions, inventors, and various aspects of industrial property and copyright. In addition to these, about 300 articles were published in connection with the HPO and its activity. Officials of the HPO appeared on electronic media about 30 times, apart from the regular appearance in the following programs: “Heureka!” of the Duna Television, “Delta” of the Hungarian Television and “Gordius” of the Petőfi Radio.